Mobile communication is an integral part of modern life. Various services are offered and provided to a user via cellular networks. Services may provide payload data for certain applications executed by a terminal of the user.
Typically, various quality of service (QoS) parameters are associated with services implemented by a corresponding terminal of the user and the cellular network. One particular type of QoS parameter is latency. Typically, latency denotes a delay between triggering a certain action associated with the service and actual execution of the action. E.g., latency can denote the delay between requesting certain data and receiving the requested data.
Modern cellular networks strive to reduce latency associated with certain services. QoS latency requirements can be as low as 1 to 10 milliseconds. E.g., low-latency services can be employed in e.g. remote controlled services over cellular networks, vehicle-to-vehicle communication or machine-type communication (MTC), but can also be a general building block for new types of services requiring short communication delays both in the radio access network (radio access network, RAN latency), as well as complete end-to-end delay (system latency).
Challenges may arise where low-latency requirements are combined with large amounts of traffic to be communicated via radio links of cellular networks. In particular, the combination of increased traffic load and decreased latency is expected to cause challenging design implications on future communication systems.